Purpose: The present cross-sectional study was conducted to assess and compare the mean number of non-cavitated (initial lesions, IL) and cavitated carious lesions (WHO criteria) per child in the permanent dentition and to correlate it with the plaque index among 12- to 15-year-old government and private school children. Materials and Methods: 481 schoolchildren aged 12-15 years were selected randomly by multistage random sampling from two government and two private schools. Demographic details were collected at the time of examination. Baseline plaque scores were recorded using the Silness and Löe plaque index. Immediately after brushing and drying the teeth, cavitated lesions were recorded based on WHO recommendations and non-cavitated lesions were recorded using the IL criteria of Nyvad et al and Fyffe et al. Results: The mean number of surfaces with cavitated and non-cavitated lesions for government school children was 2.13 ± 2.98 and 3.21 ± 2.97, respectively, and 1.24 ± 1.86 and 3.08 ± 2.33 for private school children, respectively. WHO + IL surfaces among private school children were 4.33 ± 3.48 and in government school children 5.35 ± 4.45. There was a positive correlation of plaque score with IL (r = 0.63) and WHO+IL (r = 0.73). Conclusion: Non-cavitated lesions are about twice as common as cavitated carious lesions in school children. Government school children had a higher number of cavitated and non-cavitated carious lesions when compared with private school children. Parole chiave: caries epidemiology, caries risk predictors, early caries, non-cavitated carious lesions, precavitated caries